The Alabama Moderate

WARNING: THIS SITE HAS MOVED!

2007-03-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

Please update your links to "www.almoderate.com".

You can go to my new location by clicking here.

I'll leave this up for the next two weeks before I take down this blog completely.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 3/15/07

2007-03-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Seems Rosa Parks is up for sale. Her body isn't up for sale, mind you, but her name and image are.

And Birmingham's "entertainment district" now has a private investor. Great! Let them have it! As long as it's their money they're wasting and not my own, I have no problems with it.

It seems that Jefferson County Commissioners can't get along. So, there's no real news there.

If you needed a reason to believe that the term "for the children" is overused when a politician or business wants something, well here it is.

I can't believe that this is being talked about as if they're raising money for a charity or something. By the way, isn't that (raising money for charity) what they should be doing?

And here's some really big news. If you're a politician and you go on a comedy show, they're going to make fun of you. I'm shocked.

A Hidden Agenda?

2007-03-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Could this be the latest attempt to bring Republicans together with the gay community?

You be the judge.

Well, if everyone else is doing it...

2007-03-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

I was going to report on former Secretary of State, Nancy Worley and acceptance of a major commendation, but then she went and got herself indicted (and was never nominated for an a commendation that I'm aware of), so I guess I won't be doing that. So after AM reader Don tipped me off, I decided to report on the indictment, but it seems that every single paper and blogger beat me to it.

Just so that I don't feel left out, I guess I'll report on it, too. To boot, I'll include every single link that I can find. (If I leave you out, let me know.)

The Birmingham News The Huntsville Times The Montgomery Advertiser Between the Links Politics in Alabama Doc's Political Parlor Birmingham Blues Alablawg A Bama Blog

In other news, if you think Worley is embarrassing as a public figure, just think... At least she isn't this guy.

Think you know how "the troops" really feel? Think again.

2007-03-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Before I begin this little rant, I have to thank The Gun Toting Liberal for giving me the idea to check up on it. While this particular blog has several contributors, the "Liberal" behind the blog is an Alabama native and a military veteran. What I'm about to tell you has been mentioned on more than one occasion on his blog, yet mainstream media ignores it, and your average civilian is unaware of the truth. So I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

Soldiers do not have complete freedom of speech.

What?

Soldiers do not have complete freedom of speech.

Not sure I got that.

Soldiers do not have complete freedom of speech.

Now that I've said it three times, I hope it has sunk in. Active duty soldiers do not have the freedom to dissent. For those of you short on a dictionary, that means that they can't disagree. Sure, they can say and feel whatever they want-- off-base, off-duty, and out of uniform. The thought never occurred to me to ask my brother (A.K.A. "Corporal Bonehead" of the U.S.M.C., as he is affectionately known) whether or not this was true. I finally did, and he confirmed it. Not that I don't trust Gunny, but Gunny is someone I've never met. I know my brother. After all, I'm the one who whipped him into shape, so to speak, over the course of many years in order to prepare him for basic training. He has even stated that basic training was a breeze after living with me for 18 years. Ladies and gentlemen, I humbly accept your gratitude for offering pre-training to our nation's finest.

There are legitimate reasons for this, such as the fact that you want to discourage insubordination among troops, but most people aren't aware of this little detail when they see smiling men and women in uniform happily parroting to the press whatever the talking point of the day happens to be. (It's like their lips are moving, but Tony Snow's voice is coming out.)

The truth is, the sentiment among troops is about the same as the rest of the population. There's about a 30:70 ratio of supporters to non-supporters. If you want to see what troops in Afghanistan and Iraq really think, try visiting a site like The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Better yet, ask one yourself-- off-duty, off-base, and out of uniform. By the way, a real letter home usually sounds like, "We're good. Send socks and condoms. Tell Julie I love her." Nineteen-year-olds in the middle of a war zone don't usually write extended political commentary. If you do happen to see political commentary so beautifully written that it looks like it came from a Yale graduate, it just might have come from a Yale graduate.

R.I.P. Daily Show Discussions

2007-03-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I'd see Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert give a stellar political commentary and decide to discuss it on my blog. All I had to do was type my commentary to begin a discussion, search YouTube for a clip, and cut and paste the embed code into my blog so that visitors could see what I was talking about. It was an excellent promotional tool for Comedy Central, too. Visitors who may have never seen the Daily Show might decide to start watching it after seeing that clip.

Alas Viacom, which owns Comedy Central and several other channels, doesn't see it that way. They make YouTube remove clips of its shows, and the clips featured on the official websites have no direct links to specific clips. Instead, you must go to the clips page and fish through several different clips to find the one you want. Not helpful. Not helpful at all.

Maybe someday Viacom, like NBC and several other stations, will wise up and figure out that YouTube is a valuable promotional tool. Should I dare to hope? In the meantime, I guess I can always post clips of Heroes to comment on (and promote).

Dogs and Junkyards and Laws (Oh my!)

2007-03-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

I'd like to thank my neighbors for going out of their way to look out for me and my family. Some have even to provide our street with its very own A-1 guard dogs. I appreciate the thought, but "Bruiser" (as I like to call the largest one) growled at me in a most unfriendly way yesterday while I was walking to my mailbox with my infant daughter. "Brownie" (as I like to call the large, brown one) also has a habit of defecating on my front lawn. I did recently discover the home to which "Brownie" belongs, so my husband and I decided to gather up the feces and return it to the owner. I've even considered that it might be good etiquette to attach a short note saying, "Your dog misplaced this in our yard. We thought you might want it back." Bottom line: It might be time for" Brownie" and "Bruiser" to stay at home.

I may not have to wait long for my situation to be remedied. "Bruiser" was recently spotted prancing down my street proudly displaying a freshly killed chicken in his mouth.

For that reason, I can empathise with residents of Mobile County, who are trying to pass a bill to control stray animals (and junkyards) in unincorporated parts of the county. St. Clair County tried to do something similar last year, but was unsuccessful. Many people argued that the law violated "home rule," but when you are unincorporated into city limits, the county is your home rule.

I agree that some breeders feel that a five-dog limit will hurt them, but that can be easily remedied by having a "certified breeder" exception written into the language.

I'm not much a fan of government policing of what you do on your own property, but when your dog roams, it's no longer on your property. It is on someone else's property, and it can cause quite a bit of damage and personal injury. Your right to do whatever you want ends when someone else's right to freely and safely walk around on his own property begins.

Moderate Changes: Domain Mapping

2007-03-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okie dokie artichokie. At this point, it's a waiting game. Some of you may be seeing a blank page right now (and not this post). After (hopefully) 48 hours, you should see the new domain up at the top no matter what you typed into your browser to get here. If you typed "almoderate.blogspot.com", you should have been forwarded to this URL. If you typed "www.almoderate.com", then you really shouldn't have anything to update. Let me take this opportunity to ask anyone who might have a link to me or have me listed on their blogroll to go ahead and change the link. It's mostly because I won't be on Blogger for much longer, and when I switch over, I don't want my readers getting lost in cyberspace.

That being said, there may be another slight hiccup when I switch the mapping to the new servers. Again, it should only take about 48 hours TOPS. Please be patient with me. I'll give you fair warning about a day or so before I do it.

Moderate Changes: New URL

2007-03-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that The Alabama Moderate now has (da da dah da!) its very own domain name. From here on out, you should be able to type www.almoderate.com into your browser and find me.

At the moment, I've merely set up the domain so that it forwards to my blogger page. Once I get everything set up at WordPress, it should display at the top. That's the theory behind it, anyway. I've actually only done domain mapping on one other occasion, and it was about five years ago, so I'm a little rusty. If all else fails, I can always host elsewhere and just use the WordPress software, as Dan mentioned he does.

He (and Jeff) also mentioned something called PHP. I'd like to remind my readers that I don't do drugs. Seriously though, I'll start out with what I have, but I'll look into PHP. Once I'm just good enough to be dangerous, I'll probably get going with it and screw a few things up-- but then it'll look pretty awesome.

Moderate Changes Ahead

2007-03-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Over the next three weeks or so, you'll be seeing some small changes slowly taking place. The URL will change, and I'll definitely post a notification. The server will change, as I'm leaving Blogger for greener pastures at WordPress. (I'll post a link for a few weeks just in case readers end up here.) And the overall look will change. This is going to take up my usual blogging time, so expect to see fewer actual posts over the next three weeks. I'll try to include at least one actual political post for every couple of days.

My readership is up, up, up. So I'm going to try to include less emotion and personal life and more logic-based commentary. Hopefully, I'll be taken more seriously. I'm also planning to recruit a couple of new contributors. This is partly so that I can have more material, even though a mobile baby gives me less free time. Hard to believe, but I actually had more free time to blog when I was "working" all day. I also think it would be interesting if I could, like Dan, get a couple of state legislators to contribute on the goings on around Montgomery and provide insight on their legislation. I thought it might also be fair to give the Argo mayor and council an opportunity to speak. (These guys obviously already have a forum, but I'm trying to be fair.)

My increased readership is partly due to the Argo/Springville posts, but these posts have distracted me from the main focus of my blog, which is local and national politics. Lately, my main focus has been Argo, so I'm going to try to limit my posts to once a week. I'm thinking Tuesdays would be best for weekly updates, since Argo town hall meetings are held on Monday nights. Those of you looking toward this blog only for updates on Argo will have a regularly scheduled day to do so, as well. These posts have also lead to an increase in anonymous posting. While I believe that everyone has the God-given right to remain anonymous in posting, I'm going to turn that option off for now, so you will need to sign up for a blogger username to post a comment. It's not so that people have less anonymity. Mostly, it's so that folks can tell one anonymous poster apart from another to see just how many different opinions are flying. When I address an anonymous commenter, it helps for people to know which anonymous commenter I'm addressing.

Regarding my new look... I'm a whiz with HTML and Java, and I'm not too bad at graphics editing, but I'm not very creative. If you have an idea, please let me know by commenting here or by emailing me at almoderateATwindstreamDOTnet. So far, I'm thinking of a magnolia theme of some sort with a green or pink background. No significance-- I just happen to like magnolias. I also have an idea for a header graphic that will look somewhat like a political cartoon loosely based on a joke that one of my old coworkers made several years ago.

Wait for it...

2007-03-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Anyone want to start a pool on who will be the first legislator to claim that this will encourage underage drinking?

Better yet, how long will it take Hank Erwin to claim that a hurricane is headed our way to punish us for it?

The kid next door to me charges $20.

2007-03-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

So how exactly does this happen?

Dems Should Lighten Up

2007-03-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

"It's true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true President Bush called Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?'" --Roger Ailes, Fox Chairman and CEO

Now, reading that, it's quite obvious that Ailes was making a joke first about our president's legendary dim-wittedness and second about Barack Obama's name and the tendency for Joe Sixpack to get him mixed up with a certain terrorist. Personally, I thought it was a pretty good joke. At least, it was way better than a now infamous attempt at humor made by Sen. John Kerry not too long ago. (Note that watching any clips of John Kerry speaking is not recommended while operating heavy machinery.)

That being said, it seems that the Democrats have pulled out of a debate to be co-hosted by Fox as a response to the joke.

Cancel because you disagree with Fox's fairness or balance (or lack thereof). Cancel because you think Roger Ailes is a big, fat jerk. Cancel because you woke up and your hair was frizzy. But don't cancel because of a joke that was actually funny. Remember, the Republicans are supposed to be the ones too stiff to laugh it off.

2007 Ballot Initiative Bill

2007-03-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Crossposted from Betwen the Links.

2007 Ballot Initiative Bill Rep. Mike Ball

First of all, I’d like to thank Dan for the invitation to publish on this weblog. Once again, I have introduced my modest ballot initiative bill, HB263. It is the same bill that I’ve sponsored for the past 2 years. I am not particularly optimistic about its chances for passage this year because of the lack of demand among the general population. Those who have power have worked hard to attain it and will not give up even a small part of it unless they absolutely must. The amount of public demand necessary to overcome this natural resistance can only be generated if there were some sort of crisis. I’m glad things are going well, though.

It is interesting how support and opposition lines up for this particular issue. It is not liberal vs. conservative as much as it is populist vs. elitist. Most grassroots organizations (comprised of more people than money) and many individuals across the political spectrum tend to support it; however, I can’t think of a major lobbyist (with $$$$) in Montgomery who supports it. If this issue were to ever begin to get legs, you would see some strange bedfellows fighting it.

One of the reasons the heavy-hitters oppose it is because it is very difficult and expensive to block a ballot initiative if there is overwhelming public support. It is not nearly as difficult to block the passage of legislation (regardless of public opinion) in order to protect their interests. I’ll keep it in the hopper and maybe someday it will happen.

Bad Editing: Krispy Kreme Edition

2007-03-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Much thanks to Dr. Steven Taylor and others for catching this one.

And thank you to the editing team at Atlanta's WAGT for the chuckle. I needed that.

College and Parking Tickets

2007-03-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I saw this article the other day, and it made me smile. Barack Obama had to pay about $375 for old parking tickets from when he attended Harvard. To be honest, the University of Montevallo would likely hunt me down if they could. College and parking tickets go hand and hand like peanut butter and jelly.

It's mostly because many colleges have massive shortages on parking space. Just ask any student. Then there are restrictions that only apply during the week, like teacher parking spaces. I used to park my Ford Taurus (RIP) in some spaces just outside my dorm during the weekend and then forget to move the car to another lot on Sunday nights. On Monday mornings, there was a fresh new ticket on my windshield. I'm sure that the University made enough money off of me during my freshman year to grant a full scholarship to the soccer player of its choice.

Thankfully, these tickets don't usually go on your driving record. Most of the students would have lost their licenses if they did. I've only had one real traffic ticket, and I've often told the stories of the Coffee County cop who pulled me over in Enterprise back in 1999. I started to pass, and the line was dotted. When I finished the pass, the line had just turned solid. Technically, I was in the clear. But my idiot boyfriend was drunk and had a six-pack on him (the beer, not the belly). Turns out, Coffee County was a dry county and we were technically smuggling beer, regardless as to whether or not I knew that Coffee County was dry. (I thought I was being responsible by being a designated driver.) So I sucked it up and took the traffic ticket instead of getting my butt arrested.

New Bloggers at BTL

2007-03-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Dan has a couple of new contributors to his blog, Between the Links. One of them just happens to be none other than Rep. Mike Ball. I look forward to seeing his contributions on Alabama House events and I&R.

Slow News Day: The Mommy Chronicles

2007-03-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

I really haven't had much to address lately, and I missed the town hall meeting from last night, so I've decided to occasionally post a peek into my daily life so that I can at least keep my blog up to date. It's probably just going to bore you to death, but I find the occasional amusement in looking back on my day.

This is from yesterday.

7:00 a.m. - I wake up as Adam kisses me good-bye as he leaves for work. I love my husband. Isabella is usually up by now or soon after. I get out of bed and eat breakfast-- my usual two egg whites and bowl of oatmeal with blueberries on top and a side of vitamins. I think about making some coffee but don't. I sit down to read what's left of yesterday's newspaper and wait for Isabella to wake up.

8:00 a.m. - Seems my "little stinker" is sleeping in this morning. Time for a wake-up call. Turns out she was awake but playing quietly in her crib. I get her out of bed, change her diaper, and give her breakfast-- oatmeal with apples and juice. This is followed by our usual hour of morning cartoons in the exersaucer while Mommy checks email, reads news, and blogs.

9:00 a.m. - I get a shower and get ready while Isabella finishes watching the Backyardigans.

9:45 a.m. - Snack time! A cup filled with formula for Isabella and tuna salad with crackers for me.

10:00 a.m. - I found out that the electronic signature on our federal income tax return was incorrect, so I head on over to my in-laws' house to change it and resubmit. I pillage a diet soda then call my mother-in-law and my husband to let them know I'd made the corrections. Rule #1: Don't mess with the IRS.

11:00 a.m. - We get back to the house and play in the floor for a little while. Isabella starts to get hungry a little early, so I give her lunch-- green beans and cheddar cubes. Green beans are usually her favorite, but she may be getting tired of them. She's started weeding out the cheddar cubes and plunking the green beans on the floor, much to the dog's delight. I give her a little more formula in her cup when she's done to make up for the missed green beans. I can tell she's getting sleepy.

12:15 p.m. - NAP TIME!!! Isabella is out before the second song on her CD player comes on. Time for Mommy to have some free time with the PS2! I check my email first.

1:15 p.m. - Lunch for me-- chicken and potatoes with salad. I do a quick check of my email and go back to my game.

1:50 p.m. - I hear Isabella chattering in her room and realize that my break time is over. It's worth it when I open the door to find her jumping on the bed and grinning at me. We go outside to check the mailbox. I get the bills; Isabella gets the junk mail. I let her play in the floor while I fold some laundry.

3:00 p.m. - Afternoon snack time! Isabella smacks down some yogurt. I have another piece of chicken and some grapefruit. More playtime follows.

3:41 p.m. - Isabella's sick of anything involving physical activity. It's time for "The Backyardigans". I quietly sing the praises of the Noggin channel and update the family budget.

4:30 p.m. - Isabella is still not quite ready for her usual afternoon nap, opting instead to relax in her exersaucer. I'm wondering if she'll take another nap. It seems like her morning nap is getting later and later, and I'm wondering if she's ready to ditch another nap and move to one a day after lunch. She's growing so fast! I give her some water to relax her and finish folding the laundry from earlier. Either way, I'm limiting exersaucer/television sessions to two one-hour sessions a day, so she's getting out of the exersaucer one way or another within the next twenty minutes. Besides, I'm getting sick of hearing Uniqua say, "You GUYS!"

5:00 p.m. - It doesn't look like another nap is going to happen, but at least I get to watch the news. Adam calls to tell me he's on the way. I'm itching for pizza in the midst of our diet, so I tell him to stop by Pizza Hut on the way home.

6:00 p.m. - Dinner! Not only do Adam and I have pizza, but we also have CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! We'll get back to the diet tomorrow. Isabella has a "cheeseburger" (turkey sausage patty with cheddar) and leftover green beans. Adam sneaks her a bite or two of his pizza while she plops a few green beans on the floor for the dog. I retreat to the living room early so I can watch Billy Bush talk about Britney Spears or something. I decide that I won't hold the fact that he's the president's cousin against him. I silently wonder whether or not the president watches "Access Hollywood" or scorns his cousin for being a member of the "liberal media."

7:30 p.m. - Bedtime for one baby girl. Adam gets her ready, and I fill up her cup with formula. Thirty minutes later, she's out cold. We both kiss her goodnight, and Adam tucks her in.

8:00 p.m. - Grown-up time! Adam and I sit down to watch "The Class" and "Heroes" together. Unfortunately, NBC runs past the DVR timer for the latter, so we miss the last five minutes or so of the "Heroes" finale. I hate it when networks do that. Adam finds a later showing on Sci-Fi for Friday and sets a timer. Hopefully, NBC will have it online tomorrow, and I can watch it then.

10:00 p.m. - I tuck myself into bed so that I can wake up tomorrow and do it all over again!

Funeral Arrangements for Enterprise Students

2007-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

The Montgomery Advertiser has them here.

Very sad. From what I understand, the father of one of the dead students is currently serving in Iraq, although I cannot find an online article that has this information. I already can't imagine getting this kind of news as a parent, but to get this kind of news when you are already in that type of situation must be beyond unbearable. Very tragic. My thoughts and prayers go out to these families.

UPDATE: Brian apparently has some info on the soldier (s) who lost their children in this tragedy. There were, if I'm reading correctly, actually two soldiers who lost children. One is currently fighting in Iraq and the other is scheduled to return to Iraq in June. You can view Brian's post here. If you follow the link in his post, you can get information on each of the students who died.

Where's the Outrage?

2007-02-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

I've sat on a story about Dems trying to take away the president's war authority for nearly two weeks, I've even hinted at it on other blogs, and I've only seen a blurb mentioned on the NBC Nightly News and occasional blurbs on Yahoo News. I've yet to hear any of my neocon blogger friends give so much as a mention. Instead, they seem to all be focused on a certain nonbinding resolution. Where's the love when the Dems come up with legislation that has real teeth? Oh, come on! Nobody has even been accused of "emboldening the terrorists" yet!

(Is it painfully obvious that it's been a slow news week.)

Ebay Sellers Beware...

2007-02-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

...The IRS is going to get you!

Presidential Website Review

2007-02-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

Slashdot has a very interesting discussion in which they review presidential campaign websites. If you are interested, you can click here.

Wanna Meet?

2007-02-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

A few other Bama bloggers have already posted on this, but I will include it anyway. There's a meeting for Birmingham and Huntsville bloggers (or just Bama bloggers in general) that is currently being set up for March 21 at 7:00 pm. Click here for more info.

Was your water bill a little high last month?

2007-02-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

There may be a good reason as to why. According to what I'm hearing, the BWWB isn't going to fix the situation unless you specifically call and complain about it.

Steel Coil Humor

2007-02-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Cartoonist Scott Stantis seems to have outdone himself this time. From today's newspaper:

US Eating Broadband Dust

2007-02-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

With all the "free" trade we have in the U.S. these days, you'd think that we get the best, cheapest products in the world, right?

Well, when it comes to broadband, Americans are getting left behind. Other countries, like China and even North Korea are getting better products for less money. They have better speeds, less downtime, wider availability, more options, and lower price tags. Imagine plugging your laptop into the electrical outlet and getting a superfast Internet connection for less than $10/month. It's happening in other countries. Alabama Power considered getting broadband over power lines (BPL) for a while, but we've been waiting for at least three years for them to "test" it. Even then, services such as this are spotty across the U.S.

Makes you wonder why Americans are willing to pay so much for so little.

The Award Goes to...

2007-02-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

...The Birmingham News for "Worst Headline Pun, Ever".

Recall Prompts Peter Panic

Frozen Democracy?

2007-02-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

Coming to a grocery store near you...

"The sweet taste of liberty in your mouth."

Sounds yummy.

A New Step for the Boston Knee-Jerk

2007-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

Sounds like a catchy name for a line dance, doesn't it? The Boston Knee-Jerk. I almost wish it was.

Turns out that Jim Samples, the head fry-cook over at Cartoon Network, has resigned in light of the Boston fiasco. One of my first reactions was, "Wow! There's actually a guy at the top of a company willing to take responsibility for the actions of his company rather than 'cleaning house' among the lower ranks! That's actually the kind of person that you would want to be in charge of a company." Then the reality set in that he was no longer in charge of the company. Ironic, isn't it? My next thought was, "Why on earth should he resign? At most, the advertising company (not the network) deserves fines for placing advertisements without filing proper permits and such. The hysteria created was not their fault."

The city leaders in Boston in that oh-so-"liberal" state of Massachusetts have more in common with the Bush camp than some in the right wing would like to admit. Boston leaders could have just said, "We figured it was better to be safe than sorry, and it turns out that it wasn't a bomb," and gone about their day. Nobody would have thought badly of them. They were just being cautious. Instead, we get, "We weren't wrong at all. We didn't overreact, and to show you just how serious this was, we're going after the people who put out the offensive devices." It rings very close to, "We didn't goof on intelligence. We weren't wrong to preemptively invade a sovereign country that was not a threat based on solid intelligence. Saddam Hussein was a very bad man, and we're going to stay in there until we have figured out a legitimate purpose for being there and then stay even longer until we've resolved it. By the way, we're going to send more troops."

But now this has cost one man his job and could potentially result in jail time for others, so I'm going to state the obvious. The devices were in several other cities, including New York (the city most affected by 9/11), and no other city had this reaction to the devices. The very obvious truth is that Boston officials overreacted. Period. Get over it and move on, guys.

Okay, so the thing had wires and batteries. So does my television remote control. The big question would be as to whether or not it could have carried a payload and, if so, whether or not it was big enough and placed well enough to do any significant damage to life and/or property. The answer to both questions is no. There was absolutely no place in the devices that would have been capable of holding a payload. The batteries might have been a possibility, but the device was working, so they were actually batteries. Then you have to consider that, if there were explosives, would it have caused significant damage to life or property. Unless someone was holding it when it detonated, it's not likely. It surely wouldn't have caused any structural damage. (Think about how much damage it would do if you attached a few firecrackers to the side of your house.) I'd be more suspicious of an abandoned vehicle or strategically (mis)placed gym bag.

So you ask, "Really, what kind of person would know that?" The kind of person who is on a bomb squad and anyone who has access to Google and way too much free time.

More on Minimum Wage

2007-02-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

Froma Harrop had an excellent op-ed piece featured in today's Birmingham News that pretty much sums up my frustrations with those who are arguing against the raise in minimum wage.

I'd cut and paste the parts I agree with, but then I'd have to just paste the whole thing. She pretty much said it all, so I really don't have any room to comment, either.

Signing off...

2006-11-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'll be heading to the Smokies for a short family vacation. We'll be leaving early tomorrow and get back late on Sunday. I'll be back with you on Monday or Tuesday. Dan, Danny, Gunny, Mike, Matt, Paul, Robert, Zac, Arlen, Loretta, Don, Wheeler, Jeff, Kathy, Cathy, Altoid, Dr. Steven, Lee P, and anyone I might have missed... Keep an eye out while I'm gone, and don't let them blow anything up until I get back. To Corporal Bonehead (you know who you are)... Thanks for FINALLY calling Mom. The weekend of peace was worth it! I love, er... like, er... am fond of, er... I don't loathe you, and I could possibly tollerate your existence, my snot-nosed little brother.

This is just too COOL!!!

2006-11-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

I got mentioned in the Press-Register, thanks to an article on bloggers written by Dr. Steven Taylor, a fellow blogger over at PoliBlog. (I've added a link to by Blogroll.) I wasn't even aware of the article until I stumbled upon a mention over at Jeff Vreeland's Politics in Alabama. I'm just giddy that someone noticed little ol' me! I can't begin to say just how honored I am that someone would mention me in what I believe to be one of the best publications in the state. Thank you so much, Steven!

Big Boys and Big Girls

2006-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

There are exactly two moments during the last six years during which I thought President Bush could not have been more presidential and dignified. The first was after the attacks on September 11, 2001. The second was yesterday.

Usually, he comes across as cocky, arrogant, and (to put it as mildly as possible) a jerk. I think that the results from Tuesday's elections finally got through to him, though. We aren't seeing the usual "talking down" and defiance that we've seen so many times before. He's let Rummy go. He wants to work with the Democrats. There have been no temper tantrums-- at least not from this administration. I can't say the same about all of the pundits, losers, and supporters, but these are the exception and not the rule. The Republicans, I am happy to say, do not appear to be sore losers. They definitely have one up on the Democrats, there.

The Democrats thus far appear to be good winners, too. I haven't seen any real gloating thus far. They have said that they want to work with the Republicans to make America better. And if the Democrats and the Republicans want to work together (finally!), then I applaud that decision. It's about time. I'm sick of the divisiveness that we've seen over the last 12 years. It was mostly brought on by the Republicans and their supporters, but they now appear to be willing to change that. If they mean what they say, then I'm proud of them.

It's such a refreshing change from just four years ago. (Heck! It's a refreshing change from just two days ago!) You may remember the day after elections in 2004. Fox News pundits were smirking and screaming, "It's the morals, stupid!" (Dangerous words, considering that the higher the pedestal you place someone on, the farther they'll fall. And fall, they did.) Republicans wanted to take away what little power the Dems had left and snatch the filibuster out from under them. (Thank goodness for the Republicans that John McCain had the foresight to nix that plan!) There was a declaration of mandate, and power was used as if there was one, with little regard to public opinion. Democrats fired accusations and slurs, and Republicans fired back. Republicans were heartless. Democrats were chickens.

The fact that a president was almost kicked out of office by a guy whose only real platform was, "I'm not him." was overlooked. That was a boon that shouldn't have been ignored. Two years later, it caught up with the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi is already promising to run a virtually corruption-free Congress. She needs to be careful about that. But the main thing that I'm seeing more than anything else is how civilized both sides are being. I'm happy. I'm really happy.

Thoughts on the 2006 Midterm Elections

2006-11-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

I've covered Alabama's election, now I want to talk about the country as a whole. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the Dems to have as big a victory as they did. I expected a win in the House and an even split at best in the Senate. For the Dems to win the Senate, they were only allowed to lose one Senate seat. As I'm writing this, they are a defeated George Allen away from a simple majority. (Technically, they'll have 49 seats with two Dem-leaning independents.)

Part of me wonders what is coming next. So far, this promises to be interesting, and the newly elected haven't even begun their terms. I figured that it would at least be February before anything changed, but then I turned on Fox News. Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down!

Over at Alablawg, this election was summed up the best way I've ever heard it:

"I'm really hoping the Democrats take congress. It isn't that I think they will do a good job. It's more like choosing Raymond 'Rain Man' Babbit over Hannibal Lecter to babysit your kids."

Yep. That pretty much says it. I guess that's why I'm happy to see things end up the way that they did. If Allen concedes, the Dems will have a one vote majority in the Senate and a nice majority in the House. They still have to get through a Republican president with veto powers. Considering that they have such a small majority, they'll actually have to work together to get their legislation passed. Maybe it will turn out better quality legislation. If it doesn't, there's a small enough majority that we can easily remedy that in two years.

Do I expect this to solve all of our problems? Absolutely not. I don't expect them to get half of their agenda pushed through in the next two years. That doesn't mean that they can't do something, anything. Doing so would be a vast improvement for the Democrats. Nothing scares me more than the words "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi" except for maybe "Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert." It's not that Pelosi doesn't scare me. It's just that she scares me less than Hastert.

I realizedlised that we could be well on our way to having our first female president, but I'm not talking about Hillary Clinton. I think that the Dems will get a little too big for their britches and go after President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and the cabinet. If they get them all removed from office, Pelosi is next in line. Yikes! I don't think it will happen, but it's a scary thought, nonetheless.

People are talking about impeachment, though. I think Rumsfeld saw it coming, too. That's why he left. It's going to put him in a decent position to be pardoned by President Bush just in case anything happens. And while I believe that Bush deserves to be removed from office, I think that impeachment could be the single dumbest move that the Democrats make should they choose to do so. They've been given an opportunity to prove themselves. There is only so much that you can do in two years. If they are bogged down in impeachment proceedings, they'll slow themselves down.

The thing that I find most encouraging is the response from China. They're upset because they believe that the election of a Democratic majority will mean that Americans will stop paying for Chinese goods and labor and start paying for American goods and labor. They're upset because they believe that Democrats are more likely to act in the better interests of American lower and middle classes and small businesses rather than the interests of large corporations.

Things should get more interesting around February or March. I haven't figured out yet whether the Dems will screw it up (again) or redeem themselves, but anything could happen.

UPDATE: Altoid links to this post here.

Thoughts on the Alabama 2006 Midterm Elections

2006-11-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

Wow! I mean... Wow! I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry right now. There's so much to cover after last night's results and this morning's fallout.

I'll start with Alabama's election. Governor Bob Riley was given a second term. He's done a decent job thus far, so I can't complain. I found myself hoping that Lucy Baxley didn't miraculously pull out a win. She was starting to get on my nerves toward the end. If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I voted for Loretta Nall. I'm a little upset that I don't know exactly how many votes she received. Nobody has really reported on it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the people of Alabama did not elect a lobbyist as their lieutenant governor. I can't get over Jan "paid-for-by-Alabama-Power" Cook's election to the Public Service Commission. On the plus side, they didn't elect Perry "biggest-ever-fine-from-the-Ethics-Commission" Hooper, Jr.

Nasty campaign tactics turned out to be the downfall of many a Republican across this state. When Twinkle decided to call up constituents to accuse Dem candidates of supporting a gay agenda, it backfired. Three out of four Dems targeted were elected. The one candidate who lost only lost by 95 votes. Alan King and Sherri Friday both won their races, and it was in part thanks to the anger over the campaigns run by their opponents.

There was one Democrat in particular that I was not happy to see win. Larry Langford. I can't believe I have to put up with him for another term. Oh, well. At least I don't live in Jefferson County. To those of you who do, you have my sympathy. (By the way, has anyone heard about Larry's friend, Sheila Smoot, paying herself out of her campaign funding even though she's unopposed?)

Amendment Two passed with flying colors. It's good news for those areas with their own school districts. I haven't heard anything on the St. Clair County home rule bill, though.

UPDATE: Altoid links to this post here.

Election Day Blogging at The Anniston Star

2006-11-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

The Anniston Star will be keeping up an election day blog with updates throughout the day. You can visit them by clicking here.

Last Minute Election Resources

2006-11-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this yesterday, but I ran out of time. I've pretty much shut down shop for the election year, but I'll be back discussing politics and whatever else happens to catch my eye just as soon as this thing is over. I'll also be posting my thoughts on the results tomorrow morning. Dan has posted an excellent list of election resources. His list includes newspaper endorsements and local blogs (even this one). Please go on over there and check it out.

Endorsements for the 2006 Election

2006-11-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

I will not be covering all offices because some are uncontested and because I only feel comfortable endorsing those races inside my own district. I will only include information about who is running, my endorsement, and information on why I am endorsing that candidate. Incumbents will have an asterisk (*) next to their name. That being said, here's the list

Governor Candidates include Bob Riley (R)*, Lucy Baxley (D), and Loretta Nall. Ms. Nall will not be listed on the ballot, but she is actively running a write-in campaign. All of these are decent candidates, but I'm an ultraconservative at heart, and I'm tired of the bipartisan system. That being said, the Libertarian gets my vote every time. I will be voting for Loretta Nall.

Lieutenant Governor Candidates include Luther Strage, III (R) and Jim Folsom, Jr. (D). Alabama has some of the largest utility rates (particularly for natural gas) in the country. Mr. Strange is a former utility lobbyist. I will be voting for Jim Folsom, Jr. (D).

Attorney General Candidates include John Tyson, Jr. (D) and Troy King (R)*. Both candidates are promising to be tough on crime, and I believe them. Tyson, however, seems to focus on crime prevention more than King. I will be voting for John Tyson, Jr. (D).

Secretary of State Candidates include Beth Chapman (R) and Nancy Worley (D)*. What can I say about Nancy Worley that hasn't already been said by several Republican and Democratic registrars, a federal judge, and Watchman South (see my sidebar)? I will be voting for Beth Chapman (R).

US Congress (District 6) Candidates include Spencer Bachus, III (R)* and Warren Grayson (I). Warren Grayson will not be featured on the ballot but has run a write-in campaign for the position. I'm no big fan of the work that Rep. Bachus has done over his last term, and I'm voting against incumbents this year unless they've given me a good reason not to do so. He hasn't. I will be voting for Warren Grayson (I).

State Auditor Candidates include Janie Baker Clarke (D) and Sam Shaw (R). This is a tough race because both candidates are well qualified, and I haven't seen one negative ad. Since the office pretty much doesn't do anything important and could pretty well be eliminated, you could effectively vote for someone based on a coin toss. Being a former registered Republican, I'm going with the Republican. I will be voting for Sam Shaw (R).

State Treasurer Candidates include Stephen Segrest (D) and Kay Ivey (R)*. You may remember Steve Segrest as the guy who got beaten in the 2002 primary by Nancy Worley in his run for Secretary of State. In other words, a majority of voters decided that Worley scared them less than he did. 'Nuff said. I will be voting for Kay Ivey (R).

State Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Candidates include Ron Sparks (D)* and Albert Lipscomb (R). Sparks has been doing a decent job thus far. He has also been endorsed by the Alabama Farmers Federation. I will be voting for Ron Sparks (D).

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Candidates include Sue Bell Cobb (D) and Drayton Nabers, Jr. (R)*. I'm deciding my support here based on the endorsement of the FOP, since both candidates are good choices. It's mostly because I believe that our judiciary should be appointed. The last thing I want is a judge who is basing his decisions on potential political backlash. This will be the only judicial office that I list here, and the only one that I vote for. I will be leaving the others blank, since I don't know enough about the candidates to make a decent decision. I will be voting for Sue Bell Cobb (D).

State Public Service Commission (Seat 1) Candidates include John Rice (R) and Jan Cook (D). This commission regulates Alabama's utility rates, and Alabama has some of the highest. I took that into consideration when going over these candidates. Jan Cook has received much of her campaign funding from PACs that are affiliated with Alabama Power. (H/T to Dan at Between the Links for finding the Mobile Press-Register article.) I will be voting for John Rice (R).

State Public Service Commission (Seat 2) Candidates include Perry Hooper, Jr. (R) and Susan Parker (D). Perry Hooper has already had one run-in with the Alabama Ethics Commission. I will be voting for Susan Parker (D).

Statewide Amendment Number One This amendment will allow the City of Prichard to create a duty-free tax zone for imports from Mobile County. It also gives them some power over their property taxes. Only citizens of Prichard should vote on this amendment. I will be leaving it blank.

Statewide Amendment Number Two This amendment will only affect those areas with school districts. The best I can tell, if you plan on having your own school district someday, this will affect you, so it would be appropriate to vote for or against it. This is not a bill that will raise taxes or raise money for education. It will simply require that the money for the school district (at least 10 mills) will come from property taxes instead of elsewhere (like sales tax). I will be voting "yes."

Statewide Amendment Number Three This is nothing more than an amendment regarding Macon County's Board of Education. Only those living in Macon County should vote. I will be leaving it blank.

St. Clair County "Junkyard Bill" I'm not sure exactly how this will appear on the ballot, but I can tell you what it's about. It will give the county the authority to enforce laws similar to rules set up by neighborhood associations, covering everything from noise to leash laws to weeds. It really depends on how you feel, here. I like the idea of home rule, and this treads on home rule a bit, but I also know that Argo would never enforce a leash law or noise ordinance, and I'm a little desperate for it right now. I'm unable to walk to the mailbox with my daughter because people let their dogs roam. My husband is one of those who detests the idea of someone telling him what to do on his property. He'll probably vote "no." I will be voting "yes."

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 11/1/06

2006-11-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Slashdot is running an interesting bit on how to sue spammers and auto-dialers.

Lee P and Altoid are both covering a somewhat humorous story about Sen. Jeff Sessions and some condoms. Puns are a-flyin'! They'll bring you to your knees-- with laughter...

Alabama Improper is talking about holidays.

Gun Toting Liberal and many others are talking about Kerry's speech. You know the one.

And Loretta Nall has posted her responses to the questions asked at the recent debate. I have to admit that I'm impressed.

Trick or Treat!

2006-10-31T05:28:00.000-08:00

I'll be taking the day off, but I'll be back tomorrow.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/30/06

2006-10-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

First of all, congratulations to Wheeler on the twins. From what I can tell, it looks like they were born in the same hospital as my little "Butterbean" about five months back. So now I'm curious as to whether or not his wife uses my OB/GYN and whether or not we may have passed each other in the waiting room. Small world!

Altoid has the latest on Rep. Jean Schmidt. Funny stuff. Apparently, she has a problem with someone showing her constituents exactly how she behaves herself on the House floor. Schmidt complains that to show footage in this manner is considered breaking House rules. There's only one problem. Her opponent isn't a member of the House, yet. Schmidt, however, is a member of the House, and it also just happens to be "against House rules to refer to another lawmaker by name or to disparage him on the House floor."

Michael Linn Jones wants you to vote for him for Congress.

And Dan is reminding you to watch the Alabama gubernatorial debate.

Who's counting YOUR vote?

2006-10-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know about any of you, but I miss the No. 2 pencil days... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually thankful for Nancy Worley's inefficiency, for once. If not for her, we'd probably be using Diebold machines by now.

Birmingham is Movin' on Up!

2006-10-30T08:34:00.000-08:00

The newest listing of most dangerous U.S. cities was just released. St. Louis has been ranked as number one. Birmingham was number 10 on the list last year. This year, Birmingham is number six. So it looks like we're steadily headed toward the top of at least one national ranking.

Here's the link to the list, although I had some problems getting onto the server earlier.

Just as last year, the thanks for this "improvement" should go to Mayor Bernard Kinkaid and Birmingham Police Chief Annetta Nunn, who have still not approved most of the suggestions given by their own police force. Kinkaid, in particular, deserves special credit for taking his own city council to court as opposed to allowing the pay raise that they overwhelmingly passed so that Birmingham police officers could be paid a comparable rate to surrounding cities with less crime and better benefits.

Sticking my nose where it doesn't belong...

2006-10-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

...into the Jefferson County Probate Judge (place 1) race. I live in St. Clair County, after all. But I work the Hewitt-Trussville football games on Fridays for some extra cash right before Christmas, and I got to meet one of the Judge Alan King's campaign toadies. I like that title! I think I'll start calling them that! LOL! Anyway, it's late, and I'm in a goofy mood.

The campaign toady in question was very polite-- not one of those in-your-face campaign toadies that you normally meet. He just stood at the gate, held a road sign, and passed out flyers to anyone who would take them. He talked to my husband and me for a little while and only mentioned the campaign once. I mentioned that I run a blog, and I asked him for a flyer. I offered to do a little looking up and told him I'd post my opinion, since he'd been so nice. (I also made him promise me that his sign wouldn't end up on the side of I-59.)

So I looked up King's website, and I have to admit that I'm impressed with his qualifications. He's being endorsed by the FOP, a plus when it comes to the opinion of the daughter of a disabled cop. If what I'm reading is true, he was also voted as most qualified by the Birmingham Bar Association. Another plus, although I haven't been able to confirm whether or not it's true. He seems to have a lead over his opponent in the polls, too.

So this is my obligatory mention of Judge Alan King. So far, what I see is good. I haven't seen anything negative thus far. Maybe someone else out there has and would like to comment.

Riley for Vice President?

2006-10-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Since John McCain campaigned with Gov. Riley yesterday, the Birmingham News is now speculating over whether or not McCain might choose Riley as his running mate should he run for president in 2008. (Just a little trivia. McCain could become our oldest serving president. If he is elected to a second term, he would retire at the age of 80.) I have no major problems with either of them, but I think that they may be putting a little too much stock in our governor.

McCain, should he run, would need a running mate who has attracted a lot of national attention. At least, he would need someone who is better known than Riley.

Then, there is this quote:

Pressed to say whether he would consider Riley as a running mate, McCain said, "I think he would be an excellent choice, yes. But first let me decide if I'm going to run, and if I run, Bob Riley and others in the party would be outstanding choices in any future run."

I guess I'd believe it more if McCain hadn't already said nearly the exact same thing about Lindsey Graham back in November 2005.

McCain, looking at Graham, told the crowd of about 100 people that "some people have said this might be a very attractive vice presidential candidate."

He also has close personal relationships with John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman and Graham are both fellow senators with whom McCain has worked very closely on legislation. Both were members of the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) Gang of 14. My money is on those two. If Lieberman loses in the general election, my money is on Graham-- at least for now. While Riley could be considered a moderate (and McCain will go with a moderate), he's an unlikely choice since he has less national recognition and is not as close to the potential candidate.

One other thing to note is that politicians have a way of recycling the same speeches over and over. It's a good bet that McCain makes a habit of visiting states that might show support for him in '08 and then supporting a candidate by saying that he'd make a good choice for a vice presidential candidate. Just a thought.

Just another reason why I love Scott Stantis...

2006-10-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Prickly City comic: click here.

Discussion: Laptops & Borders

2006-10-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

More and more laptops are being seized and searched when people are crossing the border. The main concern is among business travelers, who are carrying confidential corporate information on their computers (not to mention personal information) that they wouldn't want someone else to see. This may have a major impact on the way international business is done.

Political Ads Roundup

2006-10-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Here's what the Birmingham News and the Associated Press are talking about...

Gambling money, false ad claims fly -- The Birmingham News talks about the race for Alabama's Supreme Court chief justice. This is precisely why I feel the office should be appointed. I don't like judges who are politicians.

Riley's `hypocritical' on no-bids, Baxley says -- Is it just me, or does anyone else miss the days when Baxley just kept her mouth shut? She's turning into the Democrat's Twinkle.

Michael J. Fox plunges into election -- I don't think that anyone was surprised to see that Michael J. Fox is supporting those candidates who vow to fight for stem cell research. What got me angry was Rush Limbaugh's assessment of Fox's disease. Then again, I don't know many people who take Rush seriously, these days.

COPA Gripes

2006-10-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

The trial challenging the Child Online Protection Act began on Monday.

Among the list of gripes, those challenging the new law complain that it restricts freedom of speech. I doubt that this is the case, but I don't like lawsuits against web browsers, ISPs, and content blockers because they can't block everything. I don't like the COPA because I believe it gives parents an excuse to not pay attention to what their children are doing.

Yes, I believe that children should be protected online. I also believe that parents should be the ones who take responsibility for what their children are doing online. I never had a computer in my own room, and my daughter will not. Rather, the computers in our home are located in a more central location. There is no such thing as online privacy-- at least not until you are out of my home.

The government can only be a nanny for so long.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/25/06

2006-10-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Lee P at A Bama Blog is talking about whether or not a voter ID could be considered a poll tax.

These days, it seems like everyone is talking about Loretta Nall's boobs. Dan at Between the Links is no exception. This was also on NBC's evening news last night. Dan is also giving his recommendation for State Auditor.

Doc's Political Parlor and Home of Lawn Mower Repair is talking about (among other things) the Republican use of "the 'L' word."

Sample Ballot Available Online

2006-10-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

I will be cross-posting this at Between the Links.

I stumbled upon a site where you can get a sample ballot online. Just click here. The ballot doesn't include constitutional amendments, and it seems to group together all the candidates for particular categories (even if candidates are running for separate seats). The Associate Judge candidates and the Public Service Commission candidates were all lumped together on my sample ballot. But it does offer a list of who is running for what. If you can't get to a probate court, this may be useful.

Fundamentalism and Fanatics

2006-10-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have been noticing a faith movement, lately. It's members have faith that theirs is the only way, and they have little tolerance for those of opposing faith. In fact, some have no tolerance, and they will work in whatever way they can to eradicate any signs of other faiths.

I'm talking about atheists.

Think about it for a minute. It takes just as much faith to believe that no god exists as it would take to believe that one does not. Considering their organization, it could easily be considered a type of religion, sans deity.

Granted, I don't hold this attitude toward all atheists. I have several friends who are atheists, and they are some of the most tolerant, open-minded, and wonderful people I know. I'm referring to those atheists who sue to have crosses removed from war memorials. I'm referring to those who want any trace of religion removed from society, no matter how trivial.

In their efforts, I start to wonder if they could eventually become as radical as some religious fanatics. I say that because of recent church burnings that have plagued Alabama. Could this eventually become a pasttime for overzealous atheists? I just find it interesting to see that the newest potential fundamentalist movement just happens to be one that claims no religion.

Your thoughts?

Republican Quotes of the Day

2006-10-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people..."

Doesn't sound very Republican, does it? Can you tell me who I'm quoting? I'll give you a hint. The Republicans invoke his name quite often to remind you that they are representing the same party. He also worked often with members of the opposing party, even giving a Democrat his second-in-command position. Considering that, I'm surprised that they aren't giving him the ol' McCain treatment. Instead, they seem quite proud of him.

The answer: Abraham Lincoln.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/24/06

2006-10-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't given poor Wheeler much attention lately, so I'll point you over to The Alablawg, where he's discussing why he believes the Republicans are the actual party of cut and run.

Kathy has a post on Birmingham Blues with the latest presidential humor. I saw it on the news last night. It's not the funniest thing that he's ever done, but I got a chuckle. Ted Stevens and his "tube" speech were funnier.

Loretta Nall has posted a list of her upcoming media appearances.

Michael Linn Jones is talking about a new smoking ban in Omaha over at Gun Toting Liberal. While I'm a big fan of smoking bans, I have to agree with him that the use of the 911 system to report infractions is way too much. For one thing, I prefer to leave the 911 system open for actual emergencies instead of calls from overzealous anti-smoke activists.

Dan has some great posts over at Between the Links, but since there are so many today, I'll just direct you to the main site.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/23/06

2006-10-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

There isn't much going on, but there are a couple of good posts that I want to direct your attention to.

Dan at Between the Links has posted his recommendations for the Public Service Commission.

Gun Toting Liberal is talking about how the MSM may be loosing out to the blogosphere. And they're not happy about it.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/20/06

2006-10-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

Alabama Democrat has posted a link to the new GOP ad. Oddly enough, the ad contains footage that is reminiscent of an old LBJ ad, which Altoid has posted.

NBC will not be airing a portion of Madonna's show which includes the singer on a mirrored cross. This is in response to some Christian groups threatening to boycott one of the show's sponsors. I can probably tell you now that, as a result of the controversy, the show will have more viewers. Anytime I see a celeb put his image on a cross (remember Kanye West?), it makes me want to hurl, and the celeb in question will usually be ridiculed. What the Christian right has effectively done is make Madonna look like a martyr, given the show hype (meaning that more people will watch it), and made themselves look like fascists. Thus, their actions further prove that extremists are pretty good at achieving the opposite of their original goal if given enough time. Seriously, does anyone really take Madonna seriously these days?

Robert Rouse (Left of Centrist) has proven why you don't go to bed after a night of horror movies and Bill O'Reilly.

And Dan at Between the Links has posted regarding the now infamous Twinkle recording that everyone seems to be talking about. Not only does it have no truth whatsoever, but Twinkle has also managed to (finally) turn Patricia Todd's election as the first openly gay legislator in Alabama into the "gay agenda" debate it should have been. (Todd's platform, by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with the "gay agenda", nor does she plan on making it so.) Dan also has an informative piece on Dick Clark, the other third-party candidate.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/19/06

2006-10-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Doc has an excellent piece on Sunny Smallwood's run for Probate Judge. She has an interesting credibility issue in her campaign advertising. My husband, who has seen the advertisements, has trouble getting over the last name. Juvenile, I know, but what can I say? He's a man-boy. I think that the "Vote Boo Boo for Sheriff" sign we saw a few years ago was funnier.

Loretta Nall has posted instructions on how to write in a candidate's name on your ballot.

The Alabama Pundit has decided to post about how great the economy is. Statistics are even given to back it up. I couldn't help but notice what wasn't included-- that the average working wage has gone down. Jobs have been created, but they were lower paying jobs than the ones they replaced. Coupled with inflation, this has done noting but squeeze the working class to death. So, I guess you have to ask: What is your definition of a good economy?

From the mouth of babes... Thirteen-year-old Kimrey Anne Black wrote to the Birmingham News about negative campaigning. It's interesting that someone so young can grasp something that adults cannot.

Don't They Ever Check Snopes?

2006-10-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Earlier this evening, I saw the latest scare released to the media. Why the media gives these stories the time of day, I will never know. Even the U.S. government acknowledged that this was not a credible threat.

Here's the story. Some joker posted on a website or message board that several NFL stadiums would be targeted for bombings. I'd like to give the terrorists credit for being a little more bright than that. If they were planning an attack, the last thing they'd want is to lower the body count by warning the potential victims. I guess that the FBI has to investigate everything to be safe, but the fact that the news outlets gave this any credit at all is unbelievable. Why?

The story sounds suspiciously familiar to me. Very, very, very familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if some soccer mom who believes everything (because if it's on the Internet, it must be true) got this in her inbox and posted it on a message board to "warn" everyone.

Not Here

2006-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

In Alabama, we pride ourselves in showing our Southern Christian hospitality. And if you aren't Southern (or Christian), you may even find yourself on the receiving end of that hospitality. It's our Christian duty, after all, to live as Christ commanded here:

Matthew 25:31-46

and here:

Matthew 6:14-15

Unless, of course, you happen to be gay, liberal, anti-war, atheist, poor, Muslim, a terrorist, or a sex offender. Those sex offenders don't deserve any kind of outreach or otherwise helping hand. In fact, they just don't deserve to live anywhere-- especially not here.

How dare Mr. and Mrs. Grier even suggest that they should found and run a needed ministry to former sex offenders! I mean, who cares if most of them end up right back in prison because they can't find anywhere to live after they've served their terms? They're reprehensible! Can you imagine what kind of a sick mind would produce an 18-year-old who would dare have sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend? Sickos!

But all is not lost. Not too long ago, they were driven out of town because the mission was too close to a daycare center. Of course, they're going to try it out somewhere else, but that's okay, because State Rep. Oliver Robinson, D-Birmingham, is doing his best to break it up. He's working on a law that will not allow more than one offender to live in a residential area. Considering that there are only so many residential areas in Alabama, and the number of offenders are growing, this is merely the first step in driving them out of Alabama entirely! Way to go, Rep. Robinson!

So where, then, will these people live and work, so that they can successfully assimilate into society and become contributing members to the community instead of permanent prison residents? Who cares?! Ms. Exie Thomas Bridge, a North East Lake Neighborhood Association presidential candidate and the very picture of Christian charity addressed a couple of the former offenders. They had come to her door to plead their case, and she addressed the situation as many of us good, Christian folks naturally would:

"They said ... `We've got to live somewhere,'" Bridge said. "Sure, they've got to live somewhere ... but not in my neighborhood."

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/18/06

2006-10-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Loretta Nall is writing a letter to Secretary of State Nancy Worley. Heaven help us, she's in charge of making sure that all our votes are counted. I have to have hope...

Speaking of Nancy Worley, Dan has posted that 30 registrars (Dems and Reeps) have found common ground and decided to back Worley's opponent, Beth Chapman. And poor Larry Langford has had his latest scheme rejected, and he was the only one to vote in favor. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost, but not enough to refrain from doing my happy dance because this fell through.

The folks over at Doc's Political Parlor are discussing campaign ads. Particularly, they're discussing the worst of the worst. I have to agree with one person who noted the Luther Strange attack ad against Folsom with what I can only assume is supposed to be a Folsom impersonator.

The Gun Toting Liberal has what I can only describe as the funniest thing I've read in a while. You just have to read it.

What have you done for ME, lately?

2006-10-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

That's a question that too many of us are failing to ask our elected representatives, and it shows.

I was watching the new Robin Williams flick Man of the Year over the weekend, and I was surprised to see that the character Tom Dobbs actually touched on some real issues. As he points out, politicians love to bring up big issue debates, like gay marriage and abortion, because they use them as "weapons of mass distraction." (I also recently read a commentary by Lou Dobbs that made the same point. I don't think that the naming of the character was a coincidence.) These issues distract you from this nation's real issues. For example, how is you standard of living, lately? How is your health care? Do you think you are being paid fairly for the work that you do based on your company's profit margins? Do you feel safe-- not only from terrorists but from common criminals? Do you feel like you can keep up with inflation?

Then ask your senator, representative, mayor, governor, president, etc. this: Why haven't you done anything about it?

On the surface, it appears that they might be doing a little something. Energy policies, tax cuts, and Medicare legislation looks nice. But who is really behind it? Oil company executives are writing our energy policies. Drug companies are writing our Medicare legislation. Who's interests do you think they are interested in looking out for? Yours or theirs? And as both Dobbs pointed out, you will be lucky to hear a politician argue that lobbyists are bad for America.

How can a candidate be for alternate fuel sources when he is bought and paid for by oil companies? How can a candidate be for fair natural gas rates when he is a former utility lobbyist? Does it make sense that our politicians claim to be tough on national security, but hundreds are crossing our borders illegally every day with ease while American citizens returning from vacation are hassled over bringing back a grapefruit?

Democrats? Republicans? Both are guilty. And who is to blame? We are. I'm talking about the middle class. We don't vote. If we vote, we vote based on what the voter guide handed out at church said or that TV commercial or stubborn party affiliation. Chances are that if those going to the polls actually read their Sunday newspaper instead of just buying it for the coupons, they'd get angry enough to make a real difference.

I saw a sign on Chalkville-Mountain Road this weekend that said something like, "Improve Jefferson County. Vote Straight Republican." I had to laugh to keep from crying. What have the Republicans given us, really given us, in their ten years of control? They were supposed to be the party that restored integrity to Washington, but they've proven to be just as scandalous, if not more, than the Dems. But then, that's all Clinton's fault, I guess. That's what they keep telling me. Fox News kept putting that (D) right next to Mark Foley's name. My other beef is their conservative claim. Well, let's look at that for a moment. A conservative is all about smaller government and less spending. So far, what we've seen is more government snooping and spying and increased spending. That, to me, sounds like a liberal, but we won't call it that. We'll just call it "neoconservative" instead.

Oddly enough, those arguing for less spending and smaller government are those "liberal" Democrats. Alabama Democrats are an exception. I personally believe that Larry Langford and Sheila Smoot deserve to have their pictures next to the definition of "tax and spend liberal." Regardless, you'd be more likely to be struck by lightning than to find two Democrats who agree on the same things. I guess it's hard for the Republicans to accuse them of doing anything bad, though, because they have a tendency to not do anything-- at all. They are the biggest bunch of do-nothings you'll ever come across.

So where's the solution? Vote independently. Inform yourself as to what a candidate has done. Inform yourself as to what is really in legislation that was passed. Inform yourself as to who is paying for a campaign. Then ignore the (D) or (R) next to the candidate's name. Whenever possible, vote third party (as long as it isn't some nutjob), even if it is a write-in candidate. But the best thing you can do is vote, and vote informed. Maybe it will send a message to these guys that they are still accountable to the largest demographic in this country-- the working class.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/17/06

2006-10-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

Wow! I really needed a break! It really helped, and I thank you all for being patient with me. There isn't much going on, and the little that is happening makes me want to assume the fetal position and cry until it's over.

Dan is talking about Alagasco rates over at Between the Links. Specifically, the third-highest rates in the country, even when compared to other areas with similar supply, weather, and taxes. What makes this more interesting, as he points out, is that those in charge of regulating our utilities have excepted large donations from those same utilities. It's no big shocker, but it is a very informative post, and I highly recommend visiting to see who is getting paid by these companies. Other items of interest were a post on the Exxon-Mobil ruling and an election survey of UA students.

You Sly FAUX

2006-10-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

Robert Rouse has posted an interesting piece featuring this image from Fox News:

Notice anything unusual in the picture? I'll give you a hint. It's next to his name. Ah-ha! Reading the comments on Robert's blog, people have noted that the "error" has happened at least three times, and that Bill O'Reilly has even made a verbal form of the "error."

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/3/06

2006-10-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a slow news week, except for a few things. Mostly, I just want to crawl into a corner only to come out after things are better. (Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away.) Oh, well...

The Outraged Moderate is covering the Military Commissions Act. He's also nice enough to break down and explain some of the political jargon for us.

Both Doc and Dan are discussing some religious voter guides that the Republicans are boycotting. I'm usually not a fan of these, but this one actually allows the candidate to give more than a one-word answer, so I'm interested to take a look.

Finally, Slashdot is reporting on the New York Times literary challenge to bloggers to see if they were better or worse than high schoolers. Interesting, and you can take the challenge yourself. I have not yet had time to do it, but I might try it out later.

Remembering Keith Houts

2006-10-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't find out until yesterday that the name of the officer who was recently gunned down in Montgomery was Keith Houts. The name sounded familiar, so I went searching through my Pleasant Grove High School yearbooks. Sure enough, there he was with the class of '94. He's on the same page (39) with some of my friends from that time: Chris Little (my best friend's brother), Laura Hardy (who went to my church), Paige Harwell (my gym teacher's daughter and a varsity cheerleader), Brittany Rogers (a world champion batton twirler).

What I remember of Keith is actually very little. I remember that he was a nice guy. He was on the track team. I remember that there was a girl named Lori Houts (his sister, maybe?) who was severely beaten and left for dead. Thankfully she survived, but I wonder if that's what lead him to become a police officer.

I also stumbled upon the following, which his parents placed in the yearbook for him:

"It seems as though the years have flown by and now you are in the graduating class of 1994. We want you to know how proud we are of you for the high standards you have set for yourself and for the seemingly unreachable goals that you have attained. We hope that your dreams always come true."

Needless to say, I cried my eyes out.

I won't be able to make it to the memorial service tomorrow, but if anyone in Keith's family happens to stumble upon this blog and read this, please know that my prayers and thoughts are with you all right now. Keith was a good guy, and he will be missed.

Roll Tide!!!

2006-09-29T05:52:00.001-07:00

I've been enjoying the Yellawood commercials for a while, and I just saw this one this morning.

He picked the wrong coach.

Enjoy.

UNholy Crap!

2006-09-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Any right-wingers ready to argue that Christian fundamentalists aren't comparable to Muslim fundamentalists? Get ready...

I know what you're thinking. These things can be edited in such a way to portray something any way they wish. But then I watched it again and saw where Becky Fisher, who runs the camp, says that she doesn't believe that the film has exploited the camp. She's actually helping to promote the film. So in this case, this is exactly what you think it is.

My biggest beef with the film is that it might portray all Evangelical Christians (of which I am one) as the type of people who might endorse this type of thing or even participate. That couldn't be further from the truth, as there are many moderate Evangelicals, and even those on the far right wouldn't endorse this camp.

The part that made me cringe the most? Worshiping to a picture of President Bush. In my book, that's idolatry, and while I'm not surprised, it still has a chilling effect on me. Looking at this from a religious perspective, we are well on our way to the "false religion" that Christians were warned about. I've long suspected that it would come from within Christianity. After all, wouldn't that be the perfect place to fool the most people? That's why Christians are urged by Jesus to learn the scriptures. When Jesus was tempted by Lucifer, the very thing that he used was scripture that was misrepresented.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/25/06

2006-09-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone is talking about Fox News and their interview with President Clinton. Here is a link to Left of Centrist, who won out because he posted video footage from YouTube.com. It was interesting, but I hate that Clinton didn't get to talk much about his global initiative, which I believe is providing more solutions than the freak show at the UN, these days. I'm guessing that Clinton, like me, is tired of him being the president. At some point, President Bush is going to have to step up and take responsibility for his own presidency, instead of invoking everyone else's. So far, he's blamed everyone from Lincoln to FDR to Kennedy to Washington to Clinton, and while I'm not in approval of their actions either, I'm no longer concerned with them. I'm concerned with Bush because Bush is the guy who is calling the shots, now. In the words of my mom, "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you?"

Scott Stantis had a particularly good Prickly City cartoon this morning. I enjoyed it, and I've posted a link.

One Upmanship

2006-09-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/21/06

2006-09-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

President Bush will be stopping in Hoover to discuss his energy plan. I hope it's better than the last one. Perhaps the twins will join him for another chance to be on MTV. (At least I like the twins. I can't say the same for "Two-a-Days".)

Paul Hubbert says that Alabama can't afford a tax cut or a refund with the surplus that we currently have. He's right, and I agree with him as far as that is concerned. I do not agree with his reasons for not wanting a tax break. He says it will hurt the schools. Every tax we've had so far hasn't helped the schools because politicians want to give it out to other projects. What would help is a state tax overhaul that would keep annual property tax appraisals (and perhaps a higher percentage) while dumping sales tax (some of the highest in the nation) on food and clothing, among other things. We also need to cut spending on various wasteful projects (like paving a road twice in one month). Once we "fair up" our taxes, we might just end up with more. I doubt it will happen before we get I&R passed, though, because people like Hubbert like things just the way they are.

Lee P has what I believe to be the funniest thing I've ever read currently posted on his blog. Maybe it's because we fight fire ants every year at my house, and I'm looking for more interesting ways to get rid of the little buggers.

Thad has posted his final installment of his 9/11 experience. Wow!

ALDOT Frustration

2006-09-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

I'm now a stay-at-home mom. Yesterday, I treated myself to lunch while my daughter was in Children's Day Out. On my way home, I noticed something that I didn't notice on the way to lunch. There were road crews repaving Argo-Margaret Road. That would have been great if they hadn't already done it less than three weeks ago. (I know that it was less than three weeks ago because my daughter started CDO after Labor Day, and it was then that they were doing the work the first time.) Except for the lines being painted wrong (three solid lines instead of two), it seemed perfect to me. Why were they doing it again? This appeared to be a huge waste of taxpayer dollars.

Then, as I sat waiting for my husband to get home at his usual 5:30pm, the phone rang. It was my husband. Traffic was backed up all the way to I-59 and down U.S. Hwy. 11. They were still doing road work during afternoon rush hour traffic, and there are no viable alternate routes for those needing to travel along Argo-Margaret Road. None of the residents had been notified of the roadwork, either, so even if there was an alternate route, we wouldn't have known to take it. What if there had been an emergency?!

I tried calling ALDOT to complain. After reaching at least six different offices, I gave up. Nobody even knew what I was talking about. So I got mad, and then I got even. I've just finished sending out seven paper letters to seven individuals: my state representative, my state senator, the guy who will soon be my state senator, the Birmingham News, and (just for fun) my congressman and both senators. Since all of them are Reeps, I am considering sending additional letters to the Alabama Dems as potential fodder. Maybe I can get someone to talk to me, now.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/20/06

2006-09-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

Doc has a link to Jim Wallace's new blog, based on his book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It . Sounds interesting. I may check it out.

Alabama gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall is including a story about her battle to get on the ballot. It highlights some of the problems with Alabama's restrictive ballot access law, one of the toughest in the nation.

Thad has posted some more of his experience of 9/11. It's a very moving read.

GTL has a post regarding the moderate Muslim leaders who are speaking out and encouraging peace among Muslims and are asking them to forgive and forget regarding Pope Benedict's recent words. It's about time that someone gave them some airtime.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/19/06

2006-09-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

J.R.R. Tolkien will be releasing an unfinished book from beyond his grave, giving me something else not to read. I know I'm going to get hammered for this, but I just can't stand Tolkien's writing style. It's much too long-winded, and I just don't have the patience, so if I ever get around to finishing any of his books, it will probably be the only time I do so. Until then, I'll stick with Tolkien's buddy, C. S. Lewis.

The AP has yet another story of a man who was captured by the U.S., sent to a prison outside of the U.S., and then tortured-- only to find out he was completely innocent. When are people going to wake up and realize that our government is turning into the Soviet Union?!

And then there's this story about how the Muslims want another apology from the pope. I understand more than most people that radical Muslims and radical Christians can both be dangerous and that both religions consist mostly of peaceful people. The bad apples are always the ones to get the news coverage. Personally, I think we should take some of our own (Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, etc.) and corral them with the Islamic extremists and political extremists and just let them all duke it out and leave the rest of us out of it.

The Birmingham News is reporting a 5.8% increase in violent crime for Birmingham last year, more than twice the national average. No real surprise there. I would just like to know when Mayor Kinkaid and Chief Annetta Nunn are planning to put the denial phase behind them and start competing with other police departments for more (and better) officers. More likely, I'll instead be hearing mountains of excuses from these two, who will claim that Birmingham's crime rate really isn't all that bad. No, really it's not that bad...\

And we might just get a second season of Hoover Bucs on MTV, which means another season of parents in denial who then end up shocked that the show is edited in such a way that it casts someone in a bad light.

There are also some reports of men posing as state troopers who are pulling over women and sexually assaulting them. It sounds suspiciously like an urban legend that has been sent via email on a number of occasions, but it's probably not a bad idea to slow down, turn on your hazard lights, and then pull over in a safe, well-lit area. You can also call 911 to validate the pullover.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/18/06

2006-09-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

There's a wonderful article in the Birmingham News about rehabilitating criminals in Alabama. With so much negative news these days, it's nice to read something like this. There's also a nice article about providing free breakfast bars to kids who aren't able to catch breakfast before coming to school.

Dan is covering the latest Democrat attack ad. These things make me want to vomit, regardless as to the side they're coming from. Why can't candidates just stick to talking about the issues? The more time they spend attacking each other, the less time they spend talking about their platform.

The Gun Toting Liberal (still sounds dangerous to me) is talking about Barry Goldwater. I miss those "Goldwater Republicans."

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/17-06

2006-09-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press has an article that sheds some light on our detanee policy and exactly the kind of people we are holding in secret prisons. You can read it here.

If you want to vote in the November election, the deadline is October 27.

Do you know how your congressman voted? Check here.

Pranks

2006-09-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

A group of seniors at Springville High School recently got together with the Springville PD. The seniors took (washable) blue paint and painted over all of the parking spaces in the school parking lot. The officers were to then write fake parking tickets for all the cars. Good stuff! It was a great senior prank, as is tradition with some schools. When I was a senior, we arranged "outdoor classrooms" for the school.

Those are examples of pranks.

Burning down a church (or ten) is not a prank. Poisoning your teacher is not a prank. And, to the Bessemer PD, trying to poison your teacher is not a prank. It is also not assault. It is attempted murder.

What you DIDN'T hear about in the news...

2006-09-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone is tossing out their spinach. That's a good thing. I'm just looking forward to when I can once again enjoy Papa John's spinach alfredo pizza, but I can live without it in the meantime.

Problem is, I'm sick of hearing about spinach. Just for fun, I started rewatching some of the president's old anti-terror speeches and inserting the word "spinach" for "terrorists". (Try it! It's hilarious, in a morbid sort of way!)

The spinach wants to kill you all in your beds. The spinach will kill your families. The spinach hates our freedom and wishes to put an end to our way of life. We must put an end to spinach. We must fight it in the fields so that we do not have to fight it in our kitchens.

Okay, so I've had enough of the deadly spinach coverage. What I'm really ticked about is what I didn't see. What I'm ticked about is that I found merely a blurb in our MSM and nothing in the Birmingham News-- at least nothing that would have drawn my attention to it. There was no interrupting of network programming for a presidential speech. Nada. Zip. NBC Nightly News gave it a couple minutes of their time for the last two nights, but if you didn't know too much about it, you'd probably fast forward past it.

Just in case you didn't know, all of our enemies just got together and had a meeting in Havana. Just thought you'd like to know.

Little Richard Interprets For President Bush

2006-09-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. What do you get when Little Richard is hired to interpret a presidential speech to the American public? The Daily Show attempts to explore that possibility.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/15/06

2006-09-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Lucy Baxley is at it again. She's attacking Governor Riley over his tax policy. She has every right to use this as part of her political strategy, since it's a legitimate issue that specifically targets Bob Riley's governing, but she needs to find some other strategy. This one is getting old. Actually, it was old by the time she first used it, but it wasn't as old then as it is now. She really needs to start focusing on her platform.

John Giles has found a new name for the Christian Coalition of Alabama. Personally, I thought that the group, which considers it's national organization to be too liberal, should have gone with my suggestion of NAMBLA.

Slashdot is reporting that the unhackable Diebold Voting-Machine has been hacked. Never challenge a nerd. You'll lose.

Doc offers a bit of insight into the mind of the Alabama GOP's fearless leader. Scary stuff.

And in what could quite possibly be the scarriest story of the day, a murder suspect has been accidentally released from prison, and he could be anywhere by now. Yipee!

New Blog: Alabama's Eats

2006-09-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

"I'll be right back."

Just like in the horror movies, those were the last words we ever heard from her. It was the last we ever saw of her. It was also the first we'd seen and heard from her.

Unfortunately, this was not a horror movie. She was our waitress. While we were waited upon, the person covering our table was not the server assigned to us. It was the bartender.

The waitress wasn't at fault. It was a huge issue that management needed to address. Either you bring in more servers, or you don't sit every table. That's just how it goes. At the same time, it didn't feel right leaving a tip unless we could slip the bartender some cash, because the server we didn't see would get the credit and the tip for our table. As great a job as she probably did, she didn't do it at our table.

My husband's steak was cold, and the marinara sauce was runny. This wasn't the wonderful dining experience that my friends had described to me regarding the same restaurant in another city. I'd looked so forward to this night, and to say I was disappointed was an understatement of epic proportions.

So I though to myself, "Self, you should write a restaurant review." So I decided to start another blog. It would give me an excuse to try out another blogging service, anyway. Although I never wrote the review on the restaurant mentioned here, I did start that blog, and I'm currently writing my first review of one of my favorite restaurants. (I wanted to start out on a positive note.) We'll see how it goes. I've called it "Alabama's Eats" (my nod to Alton Brown), and you can find it here.

What did you expect, Hoover?

2006-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

A family member was bragging at a recent family event that her daughter, a Hoover High student, was shown on the MTV show "Two-A-Days". I smiled. What I wanted to ask (but didn't) was, "What's the going rate for selling out your kid, these days?" These were high school students, meaning that parents had to sign release forms for MTV to film them. Imagine being a parent and being told that your child might be featured on an MTV show, reading the release, and then signing away your rights. I couldn't do it.

Now some are upset about how Hoover is being portrayed in the show. What on earth did they expect? Did they not read their release forms?

I can tell you exactly what's on a typical release form because I signed one when I tried out for American Idol. (That's another story, entirely.) The form includes a paragraph that states the following:

I understand that I may reveal, and other parties may reveal, information about me that is of a personal, private, embarrassing or unfavorable nature, which information may be factual and/or fictional. I further understand that my appearance, depiction and/or portrayal in the Program may be disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing or of an otherwise unfavorable nature which may expose me to public ridicule, humiliation or condemnation. I acknowledge and agree that Producer shall have the right to (a) include any or all such information and appearances, depictions or portrayals in the Program as edited by Producer in its sole discretion, and (b) to broadcast and otherwise exploit the Program containing any or all such information and appearances, depictions or portrayals in any manner whatsoever in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, or for any other purpose, throughout the universe in perpetuity.

I almost didn't audition as a result of that statement, and I'm willing to bet that such statements are pretty well standard for these reality shows. What it says is this: Things can be made up and edited in such a way that it will cast you in a bad light. It doesn't even have to be true, and if you sign this form, you agree that we have every right to do it to you.

I'm guessing that nobody actually reads their release forms.

The standard response from Hoover parents to the horror that parents from other cities are expressing is that "they're just jealous" or that they are "Hoover haters." Nope. We're just plain horrified that someone would sign away their kid's rights just so that they could be on television. Let me explain, Hoover parents. You've just signed a form that allows a television producer that works for the same network that spawned "Jackass" to show your child on national television in whatever light he wishes, whether it's real or fictional. Great job! Excellent parenting! Did either of you even get paid for their likeness to be used?

The winning quote has to be that of Mayor Tony Petelos:

"The bottom line is, I'm proud of our football team," Petelos said. "Let's not forget they're the No. 1 team in the country."

Great job, Tony. I'm glad to know that your focus is on the important things in life.

MTV is a network that is out to make money. The truth is that the outrageous, the negative, the ugly, and the scandalous make great television. So if it takes a little edited video to make that happen, it should be expected. If you're willing to sell your soul for a little air time, you deserve what you get.

Politicians Crack Me Up

2006-09-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Recently, someone left the following comment on this post.

Vote for and support Judge Al Johnson for Alabama Supreme Court, Place 3. Judge Johnson is a Christian, he owns a gun, and he is a Democrat. http://www.aljohnson4supremecourt.com

I don't like campaign spam, so I visited the site with the full intent of making fun of Judge Johnson. After all, what's the fun in merely deleting a comment?

There it was for all the world to see. His campaign slogan really is, "I'm a Christian, I own a gun, I'm a Democrat." Seriously. You can't make this stuff up! My first thought was that it sounded like the Gun Toting Liberal was running for office. My second reaction was a mental picture of this guy robbing a bank while using his campaign slogan. Then I imagined it as a missionary's slogan. Then I imagined it as a threat against the U.S. Congress. The more I repeated it, the funnier it got. Considering it was late, and I was sleepy, it was pretty darn funny.

"Mr. Johnson, give us one good reason why we should pass your legislation."

"I'll give you three. I'm a Christian. I own a gun. I'm a Democrat."

Is that like Guns & Moses (a nod to Robin Williams)? Sounds dangerous.

Turns out, Dan at Between the Links took notice, too. Mike even graced us with a particularly humorous comment:

Vote for and support John Q. McWhitey for Inconsequential State Office That Should Be Appointed Anyway, Place 12. McWhitey’s slogan is generic and unoffensive - “I’m a sentient, carbon-based, bipedal humanoid, I stand for values you stand for, and I remind you of your grandfather.”

http://www.johnqmcwhitey4whatever.com

Ah. Good stuff.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/14/06

2006-09-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

A few items from the news caught my attention, today.

The Associated Press has released a chilling look at the gunman from the Montreal school attack yesterday. Turns out that the comparisons to Columbine were more accurate than we'd like them to be. He was a fan, of sorts.

Bush is asking for Congress to give him more power to spy on Americans. It seems surreal to me. Up until now, he's completely ignored U.S. law, so why would he want to bother now?

Modeling agencies are up in arms over the recent ban of overly skinny models in Madrid. They're scared that Milan will be next. This article includes a picture that illustrates why I think the new trend being set by Madrid is a good one.

The Birmingham News is reporting that John McCain plans to visit Alabama now that our primaries have been moved up. It should be interesting. I'm still a fan of McCain, since he and Guilliani seem to be the only real possible candidates that I like who have a shot at winning. Now, if he could just turn off his newfound right-wing crazy...

Doc is reporting on the "Handshake With Alabama". Apparently, he's been getting the same campaign spam that I've been getting.

Loretta Nall has a couple of interesting posts about marijuana. You can read them here and here.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/13/06

2006-09-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

So it appears now that skinny is out. Frankly, I applaud any opportunity to portray a healthy (but not overweight) body image for women. The more realistic approach to a woman's look will hopefully discourage the sickly look that many models were beginning to display.

The Birmingham News is reporting that President Bush will be speaking at a fundraiser for the Riley campaign. Alabama is one of the few states where the president still has an approval rating above 50%, so it will be interesting to watch. It may actually boost Riley a few more points.

In Birmingham, Councilman Joel Montgomery is proposing a pay raise for emergency workers. More specifically, he believes police officers should be paid a rate that competes with other departments. This comes on the heels of a threat from officers from one of the nation's most dangerous cities to have a "sick out". It also follows a recommendation by Mayor Bernard Kinkaid to give a signing bonus to new recruits instead of a pay raise for all officers. What Mr. Montgomery sees and Mayor Kinkaid does not is that this sets up the City of Birmingham to become a training ground for rookies who move on to greener pastures after their two year bonus is paid out with two years of on-the-job experience under their belt. It also means that Birmingham will be left with bottom-of-the-barrel cops. Better paying cities will only take the best officers, leaving Birmingham with the leftovers, which tells you about the quality of officers that Birmingham will be keeping.

Over at the Gun Toting Liberal, two particular subjects of discussion have caught my eye. First, USAF Secretary Michael Wynne has suggested testing the use of non-lethal military weapons on U.S. citizens in "crowd-control situations" (protesters) before using them against our enemies. Second, Matthew O'Keefe talks about how U.S. officials did not count all casualties (such as those resulting from bombs) in their report of how many people had been killed in Iraq so that they could say that a recent U.S. crackdown had been successful.

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/12/06

2006-09-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to make this a regular thing, where I can make short comments on some of the other blogs that I read on a daily basis as well as some interesting news articles.

In celebrity news, celebs are passing up swag (stuff we all get) bags. I always thought it was unreal how, once you get to a certain point where you can afford to pay for these things, they are given to you. A few celebrities have made similar comments, although it seems the main reason why they are passing up the free stuff is because they don't want to have to haul bigger items and because they don't want to have to pay taxes on these gifts.

The BBC is covering Bush's speech from last night. He started out alright, but then he started on Iraq again. While he and Cheney have acknowledged that Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11, they keep talking about them at the same time, and polls show that Americans actually do associate the two. Almost half of Americans now believe that Iraq had something to do with the attacks. They didn't, but continuously talking about both during speeches has that affect, and I don't believe that it is a mistake that those in the administration keep doing it. I've developed a new drinking game. Every time Bush or an administration member mentions Iraq and 9/11 together, you have to take a shot. If you don't have to go to the hospital for alcohol poisoning by the end of the speech or press conference or interview, you win!

I still haven't watched all of the 9/11 movie on ABC because my DVR was acting up, but what little bit I saw, I liked. Hopefully, I'll be able to download the online version. I still don't approve of handing it out to schools so that they can teach it as fact. What they should be handing out is copies of is the graphic adaptation of the report, which makes the drier original a little easier to take. By the way, the original version is available for free online at this link. I highly recommend reading either version of the report.

It looks like Birmingham's traffic situation may get worse. That can't be good.

According to CNN, more Americans blame Bush for 9/11. I am by no means a Bush fan, but I think that the blame should lie with Al Qaeda. Now, our government needs to get on with the program and get back to tracking down Osama, as we were promised. Right now, we're distracted by Iraq, and I fully believe that Osama is loving every minute of it. Our attention belongs with Pakistan, who is apparently hiding our enemy, and I remember a certain speech by a certain president in which he talked about those who harbored terrorists. Enough is enough.

Back to the blogs. Dan at Between the Links has given his take on the GOP's intimidation of Todd Greeson and Greeson's reaction. Doc is covering this as well.

Doc has posted a collection of fairly odd stories. A medical clinic in Wal-Mart?!

Thad and Dan have both offered an account of their experiences on 9/11.

Tidbits From Elsewhere

2006-09-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Just a sign that I'm behind, most of the other bloggers have already covered stuff that I've bookmarked in my browser to remind myself to cover later. Hopefully, they'll forgive my lack of originality. I'm just going to touch on a few things, here, instead of providing a full post for each.

Artur Davis says that politicians should focus on issues instead of attacks. I happen to agree with him.

Doc and Dan have both covered the Republican loyalty oath that everyone was talking about a few months back. What at first seemed harmless now seems to raise a few concerns. As Dan pointed out, the loyalty oath only covers voting with Republicans on leadership positions and operating rules of the legislative body. But as Doc pointed out, Rep. Todd Greeson has received a warning letter about not voting with Republicans against a BIR. While a BIR can technically be considered a procedural vote, voting against it will kill a bill. (Those of us following the I&R issue are well aware of that.) This brings up concerns over Republicans voting with party interests, rather than constituent interests, to kill legislation. That doesn't look harmless to me.

A big tip o' the hat to Between the Links, which has posted a link to Lucy Baxley's answers to a Project Vote Smart survey. A big kudos to Lucy for answering the questions when Governor Riley has not. Our Libertarian candidate should probably look at answering the questions as well.

Meanwhile, the Gun Toting Liberal has touched on the ABC 9/11 movie, which has turned events leading up to the terrorist attacks into a work of fiction in an attempt to blame everything on the Clinton Administration. I would hope that Republicans will yell just as loudly about this movie as they did about the Reagan movie that would have aired on the CBS network, but I doubt it. One particular scene that never happened shows CIA agents about to take down Osama bin Laden but deciding not to after they can not get authorization to do so. (Seems like I've heard that before somewhere.) You can read about the Democrats' reactions here and here.

Finally, Outraged Moderates have suggested replacing Donald Rumsfeld with Lindsey Graham. Not a bad suggestion.

Jefferson's Loss Is St. Clair's Gain

2006-09-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Saks is gone. Red Diamond is gone, too. Jefferson County can't seem to keep anybody.

I can't say that I blame them, either.

Politicians will spend millions to attract Wal-Mart to an area, but when it comes to keeping a company that has been based in Birmingham for over 100 years... Well, they don't seem to matter as much.

Jefferson County Commissioners Sheila Smoot and Bettye Fine Collins are the culprits with this one. They refused to sell the land that Red Diamond requested for an expansion. The deal wasn't bad, either. Red Diamond had offered more than twice what the land was worth and also offered to clean up the property to meet EPA standards on their own dime. The reason why these two didn't want to sell? They wanted more money. The excuse was that it would cost them more than $3 million to move the county fleet, which was sitting on the property up for sale.

So now, Red Diamond is leaving, and the people of Jefferson County are the losers in this situation. I wonder how much tax revenue they will lose as a result. I'm willing to bet that the $3 million loss doesn't look so big anymore.

Yo, Blair!

2006-09-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Looks like he's stepping down. I can't help but wonder what will happen next.

HELP WANTED!!!

2006-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for some help, so if you're interested in being a contributor, please email me or comment here. Of course, this blog is called The Alabama Moderate, so I'd prefer that you be from Alabama and that you be a moderate or centrist.

Loretta Nall Gets to Debate

2006-08-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

You may have heard by now, and I know that Dan is reporting it on Between the Links, Loretta Nall will be appearing on the Russ and Dee Show after the debate on October 30.

Ms. Nall, the Libertarian write-in candidate for governor, was snubbed by the sponsors of the October 30 debate and will not get to formally participate with Lucy Baxley and Bob Riley, so Russ and Dee have given her a forum to respond to questions and issues from the debate.

I believe that she will make her appearance on the show on the following day, which is Tuesday, October 31. Keep watching Loretta's blog and the Russ and Dee website for details.

Stun Guns vs. Guns

2006-08-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

People have died from stun guns. This is true.

But if you have to pick one, which would you rather police use if they are coming after you? Guns or stun guns?

I wonder which one Ricky Gross would have preferred. I guess it doesn't matter anymore, since he was fatally shot by five Birmingham police officers on Saturday.

Police officers do need a way to protect themselves while they protect us. Otherwise, you end up with dead cops that can't keep anyone safe. Some of you will say that you hate cops and that giving them another weapon is just another way that they can hurt innocent people. (Yeah, bad cops exist. But for every bad cop, there are 100 good cops that sincerely want to keep us safe, and nothing infuriates them more than a bad cop.) But even if your stance is anti-establishment and anti-cop, you have to realize that they're going to have to use a weapon at some point, and which would you rather they use? Which weapon is more deadly?

Keep dragging your feet, Birmingham. More people will end up dead at the hands of the men who have sworn to protect and serve.

Still No Stun Guns for Birmingham Police

2006-08-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

I guess that Birmingham's city leaders feel that they'd be more comfortable with their police using guns to stop criminals. After all, we can't have the police using those deadly stun guns, now can we?

Here's the article.

The People of District 54 Win!!!

2006-08-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Loretta Nall has just posted on her blog regarding the Alabama Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting. I agree with her take 100%. It really is a shame that this was an issue to begin with. This, after all, was never about the fact that Ms. Todd was openly gay. It was about race, of all things. The black leaders in the Alabama Democratic Party should be ashamed of themselves. They of all people should know what it is like to be subject to racism, and the fact that Ms. Todd was white and had received the majority of votes in a mostly black district had been the real reason why Joe Reed made her his personal business. Just because the racist was black and victim was white doesn't make this any less or better than a reverse situation.

I am a white woman, and I would be much happier and extremely proud to be represented by a qualified black man or woman than with some of the corrupt white politicians that currently represent me. I have many very close black friends for whom I'd gladly give my life. Two of my best black friends married white men, my cousin married a black man a few weeks ago, and they were met with a large amount of disapproval-- mostly from the black community.

This isn't harmony, people. This is voluntary segregation, and its wrong. The fact that some in the black community don't want anything to do with those "white devils" isn't just an insult to me. It's an insult to everything that every Civil Rights leader ever worked for. It's an insult to all those who wanted equality for us. It's an insult to Dr. King's dream, and to mine. We should be trying harder to bring ourselves together, folks, not tear ourselves apart.

Morning-after Pill Now Available OTC

2006-08-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Here's the article from CNN.com.

I'm not sure how to react to this one, but before I continue, I should explain that the morning-after pill is just a large dose of hormones like the ones in birth control pill. I have no problems with it.

First, the sale of "Plan B" over the counter will cost women more. If it isn't prescription medication, your health insurance won't likely cover it. So instead of paying a $20 copay, we will be stuck with paying whatever the pharmaseutical companies think is an appropriate price for desperate women seeking emergency contraception.

Second, I can understand why birth control pills are available by prescription only. Birth control pills put you at greater risk for a few things, such as blood clots, so a doctor would need to determine if you are in good health and don't have any potential problems, such as high blood pressure. Since these are the same types of hormones, I'm wondering if it would be safe to administer the pill without an exam.

Third, I can understand why it would be important to have this available over the counter. When the clock is ticking, you need contraception NOW. Doctors have a tendancy to not work on weekends, so calling in a prescription isn't always an option. But then, having a ready stock in emergency rooms and clinics that would be open on weekends doesn't sound like too big a deal.

So, like I said, I'm not sure where I stand on this one. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Judge Orders Removal of Hicks Song From iTunes

2006-08-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

From the Hollywood Reporter:

"American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks has obtained a temporary injunction barring his former producer from releasing a song the gray-haired crooner wrote and recorded almost a decade ago.

Here's what I don't get. Taylor Hicks is one of those guys who is nice beyond nice. He really does care about his fans. There is no reason why he wouldn't want his fans to hear an early version of one of his songs. So why the sudden turn into Lars Ulrich?

A friend of mine, who used to be in a band and had signed a record deal, said this to me at one point: A recording contract is the single best way to end your career as a musical artist. What I'm saying is that this doesn't sound like Hicks is the one behind this situation. This smacks of a record company decision.

When you are signed by a recording company, there is a general "shut up and put up" mentality regarding the artists that they sign. You record what they want you to record. You do what they want you to do. You wear what they want you to wear. You say what they want you to say. After all, they are financing the release of your album.

The problem, as we have seen, is that the record companies don't seem to be in tune with what fans want. The artist doesn't get a say in what's released, and the resulting p.o.s. that is released to the general public under the guise of an album has no real heart and soul in it. You also run into problems, like this one, where the RIAA wants to squeeze every possible buck out of the fans that they can, with no regard as to whether it may hurt the overall reputation of the artist and his relationship to his fans.

Take, for example, my friend. He had released a personally recorded song that he held the copyright to, allowing his fans to distribute the song as free promotion for himself. After signing a recording contract (without reading it), the company gained the rights to that song and threatened to sue anyone distributing an unauthorized copy of it. While my friend is still under contract, no album has been or will be released, and he can't get out of his contract. He no longer owns the rights to his own voice, so recording elsewhere is out of the question. So if anyone wants to listen to the song, their only option is to have an "unauthorized copy" of it.

It stinks, but the recording industry currently holds all the cards and all the congressmen, so the consumer and the artist lose.

Giles To Part From The Christian Coalition

2006-08-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

According to John Giles, the Christian Coalition of Alabama will be separating from the national organization because the Christian Coalition of America has become too liberal. That's right. The Christian Coalition of America is too far to the left for John Giles. Translation: Pat Robertson isn't crazy enough for us.

Loretta Nall has posted a challenge on her own blog to find a new name for the Christian Coalition. My suggestion was to use the name North American Missions and Bible League of Alabama. I've actually considered submitting it to Mr. Giles as a suggestion, just to see if he uses it. If I were better at creating graphics, I'd post a picture of my idea for a logo, but I'm not, so I can't. If anyone else is up to the challenge of creating a logo, feel free to email it to me. I might just post it.

My Answers To The Christian Coalition

2006-08-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

Another great idea from Dan at Between the Links! He's suggested that we, as bloggers, post our answers to the questions in the Christian Coalition of Alabama survey on our own blogs. For those politicians who are squeamish about submitting their answers to the Christian Coalition so that they might be... ah... edited might consider doing the same. You may also want to publish the following phrase, which I am including below for my own benefit:

The answers to the questions below are for use on this site only. Any use of my responses to this questionnaire are not to be used or quoted elsewhere without my signed written consent.

Legally, I don't know if it will hold up for candidates (or even for me). Perhaps a lawyer will happen upon my blog and correct me. I'm guessing that it couldn't hurt.

Anyway, on to the questionnaire:

Do you support education vouchers that allow parents to choose a public or private school for their children? Yes, as long as these vouchers can be used toward public schools and supplies should such a school be unavailable for the parent.

Do you support public schools teaching that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle? Not necessarily. What I support is schools teaching the definitions of homosexuality and heterosexuality and letting the students decide for themselves what is acceptable or not. School is a place for learning, not teaching social acceptability, stigmas, or prejudices.

Do you support allowing school-based clinics to dispense birth control devices without parental consent? No. Birth control devices are easily available in any drug store, Wal-Mart, or gas station bathroom and are cheap enough for a student to purchase on his own. I don't see why my tax dollars should have to pay for it. I do, however, believe that it's essential for our children to learn proper sex education, which would include the use of such devices, in order to better prevent spread of STD's and unwanted pregnancies that would result in abortions.

Do you support increasing state income taxes or income tax rates? No. As long as rates stay the same, tax income should adjust on its own with inflation. The only instance in which I would support a tax increase is if the public voted and approved such for increased government services, like a new public school system.

Do you support requiring voter approval for state tax increases? Yes. After all, it is their money.

Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes, like first-degree murder? Yes and no. I think it depends on the situation. Most people argue that capital punishment is a deterrent for crime. Crime rates in areas that have capital punishment would actually suggest the exact opposite. I think that there are too many opportunities for error in our court system, and I don't like the idea of accidentally putting an innocent man to death. If there were some way that we could be absolutely certain that the person in question actually committed the murder, and the circumstances were extreme enough, I suppose I might support it.

Do you support prohibiting abortion in all cases, except where the life of the mother is endangered? No, but not because I am pro-choice. I am very much pro-life, which is why I think that government regulated abortions are a necessity. Abortions will happen one way or another, and while I hate losing the life of a potential child, I hate losing the life of the mother in the process even more. The best way to reduce abortion rates is to teach proper sex education and pregnancy prevention. I am highly against partial birth abortions, however, because there is absolutely no reason why they would be needed, even in cases where the mother's life is in jeopardy, because the doctor could simply perform an early delivery, which is actually less risk to the mother.

Do you support taxpayer funding of abortions? No, unless it is medically necessary, in which case it should be handled like any other medical procedure. Medical treatment should not be denied based on your ability to pay, but if you can, you should. In cases where the mother's health is at risk, this would be considered a medical necessity. In other situations, it is a choice, and if you make that choice, you should chose to pay the bill.

Do you support allowing homosexuals in the National Guard? Yes. They can protect our country just as well as heterosexuals, so if they wish to serve, let them.

Do you support allowing adoption of children by homosexuals? What I support is allowing adoption of children to two-parent homes. Studies have shown that children of homosexual couples grow up just as well adjusted as those raised by heterosexual couples and better adjusted than those raised by a single parent. The conclusion is that children raised by two parents, regardless as to gender or sexual orientation, are better adjusted than those raised by a single parent. My belief is that raising a child is hard, and having my husband help is priceless. Either way, I've seen single parents that are more than capable of being excellent parents. It simply depends on the situation, but one thing is certain, sexual orientation has no bearing on what makes you a good parent. I refuse to believe that a child is better off with Joe Welfare and his wife because they can have sex than he would be with two loving, caring, well-off lesbians. I guess that's a yes.

Do you support tax credits for the poor and middle class in need of purchasing private health insurance? Absolutely. Excellent medical care is something that should be provided to every American.

Do you support rewriting the state constitution? Yes. Take that Roy Moore.

Do you support legislation to prohibit the use of compulsory union dues and fees for political causes and candidates opposed by union members? I don't like lobbyists of any flavor, so yes. Sorry, AEA.

Do you support establishment of gambling in the state, such as video slot machines, high-stakes electronic bingo, casino/riverboat gambling, pari-mutuel betting and off-track betting? No. I think it's a regressive tax on the poor. My question to the Christian Coalition of Alabama would be this: Do you support the same in the state of Mississippi?

Would you prohibit state grants for art that is obscene, pornographic or anti-religious? No. I'd prohibit state grants for art, period. Art is self expression, and the nature in which the artist chooses to express himself is up to him. Gallery owners have the right to choose what they display. Patrons have the right to choose what to buy. The art industry is self-supporting and self-regulating, and the state has no business spending taxpayers money on it. However, I heavily support the teaching of the arts in public schools.

RNC Ad Lies

2006-08-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

FactCheck.org reported last night on the latest RNC attack ad, available on the GOP website. The ad appears on a page with the words "get the facts" in a few places, but the page offers some creative editing that would put "Rather-gate" to shame.

First noticed by several bloggers was an interesting photograph of Howard Dean. (The photographs, including the undoctored version, are shown as part of the FactCheck article.) The photograph is taken from Dean's January 2004 "I have a scream" speech. In the RNC version, some slight shading gives the impression of a Hitler mustache. After being called out on the doctored photograph, the RNC later posted a cleaned up version, but you can view all three images on FactCheck's website.

The main problem with the ad, however, is that it seeks to grossly mislead, if not outright deceive its audience by taking a quote from John Murtha out of context. The quote featured in the ad is John Murtha saying, "We're more dangerous to world peace than North Korea or Iran."

What he actually said was this: "Fifty-six per cent of the people in Spain think it's more dangerous, the United States is more dangerous in Iraq than Iran is. Every one of our allies think that the United States being in Iraq is more dangerous to world stability and world peace, every one of our allies, Great Britain, every single country, they think it's, we're more dangerous to world peace than North Korea or Iran. That says something."

Kind of changes the meaning, doesn't it?

The ad makes it sound as if Murtha is saying that he believes we are more dangerous to world peace than North Korea and Iran. What he's actually saying is that our allies believe that we are more dangerous to world peace than North Korea and Iran. The ad mischaracterizes Murtha in an attempt to make him and fellow Democrats seem seethingly anti-American.

Now, this to me seems childish. While Dems have no room to talk when it comes to attack campaigns, the Republicans seem to have gotten steadily worse. If it ain't Twinkle buying plane tickets, it's the RNC painting a Hitler-stache on Howard Dean. Meanwhile, I'm ready to lose my lunch over this senseless crap.

This has got to stop, people!

The Alabama Moderate

WARNING: THIS SITE HAS MOVED!

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 3/15/07

A Hidden Agenda?

Well, if everyone else is doing it...

Think you know how "the troops" really feel? Think again.

R.I.P. Daily Show Discussions

Dogs and Junkyards and Laws (Oh my!)

Moderate Changes: Domain Mapping

Moderate Changes: New URL

Moderate Changes Ahead

Wait for it...

The kid next door to me charges $20.

Dems Should Lighten Up

2007 Ballot Initiative Bill

Bad Editing: Krispy Kreme Edition

College and Parking Tickets

New Bloggers at BTL

Slow News Day: The Mommy Chronicles

Funeral Arrangements for Enterprise Students

Where's the Outrage?

Ebay Sellers Beware...

Presidential Website Review

Wanna Meet?

Was your water bill a little high last month?

Steel Coil Humor

US Eating Broadband Dust

The Award Goes to...

Frozen Democracy?

A New Step for the Boston Knee-Jerk

More on Minimum Wage

Signing off...

This is just too COOL!!!

Big Boys and Big Girls

Thoughts on the 2006 Midterm Elections

Thoughts on the Alabama 2006 Midterm Elections

Election Day Blogging at The Anniston Star

Last Minute Election Resources

Endorsements for the 2006 Election

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 11/1/06

Trick or Treat!

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/30/06

Who's counting YOUR vote?

Birmingham is Movin' on Up!

Sticking my nose where it doesn't belong...

Riley for Vice President?

Just another reason why I love Scott Stantis...

Recommended Reading

Discussion: Laptops & Borders

Political Ads Roundup

COPA Gripes

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/25/06

Sample Ballot Available Online

Fundamentalism and Fanatics

Republican Quotes of the Day

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/24/06

More Problems With Diebold

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/23/06

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/20/06

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/19/06

Don't They Ever Check Snopes?

Not Here

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/18/06

What have you done for ME, lately?

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/17/06

You Sly FAUX

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 10/3/06

Remembering Keith Houts

Roll Tide!!!

UNholy Crap!

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/25/06

One Upmanship

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/21/06

ALDOT Frustration

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/20/06

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/19/06

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/18/06

Tidbits From Elsewhere - 9/17-06

Pranks

What you DIDN'T hear about in the news...